XPost: uk.media.tv.sf.babylon5
From: paul@harper.net
(Cross posted to umtsb5 from rastb5)
On 12 Oct 2005 16:59:45 -0700, "KoshN" wrote:
>paul@harper.net wrote:
>> The last few attempts at resurrecting the
>> franchise have ended in farce, disappointment and some really crappy
>> television.
>
>The last few?
>
>Crusade.
Crap.
>Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers (pilot).
Huge pile of steaming mega crap with mumbo jumbo as a major plot
point.
>Babylon 5 - The Memory of Shadows (feature film that never got made).
All hype, no substance. Disappointment tinged with relief at not
having to sit through another couple of hours of turgid prose badly
disguised as dialogue.
>If you're referring to the Rangers pilot, I agree. Also, the leaked
>plot points of the feature film were certainly a disappointment.
>
>> B5 was an idea that had it's day.
>
>Yes, had, past tense, because of the extreme stupidity and
>shortsightedness of various execs at TNT-Atlanta and Warner Brothers.
While it's true that part of the blame for the multitude of sins
enacted upon B5 falls at the feet of TNT and Warners, part of it also
belongs to the people who were driving the franchise.
Had they stuck to their guns when they proclaimed (with a dignity they
clearly did not possess in reality) that B5 was "done" then there'd be
no issue.
As it is, all their high-handed moralising about there being no B5
"franchise" (to the point of getting distinctly snotty with anyone
online who used the term) has been shown to be at best misguided and
at worst a tissue of lies.
>> That day was over half a decade ago.
>>
>> Anything being done now is little more than egowanking and flogging a
>> dead horse.
>
>Being done now? NOTHING is being done now. And it's only a dead horse
>because of some spiteful, stupid TNT-Atlanta execs, and execs without
>any brains, courage or faith at Warner Brothers.
Well, that's not true. We've had books (mostly unreadable), we've had
magazines, we've had spin off series (cancelled) and tv movies (mostly
dire) and an aborted movie project. And now we have the recycled
scripts from the vanity publisher.
Oh, there's plenty that's been going on over the last five years.
Just none of it any good.
>> I have had enough of these amateurish bumblings, and do not want to
>> have the few remaining precious memories I have of B5 and what it used
>> to mean spoiled any further.
>
>Who said you'd have to watch anything new that came out? (Don't worry,
>you're not in danger, as nothing new is going to come out.)
To use a fashion analogy, you don't have to buy cheap shit to know
that the fashion label you are fond of has been cheapened by turning
something special into a mass-produced parody of itself.
B5 is the same. B5 the series (the bastardised original 5-year arc, I
mean) was a pinnacle of achievement. Then the teevee movies started.
Then the spin-offs started. The appallingly bad books started and the
fanboy magazine (cancelled) and the online clothes store (closed) and
lately the attempt at resurrecting it as a movie started and ground to
a halt. Now we've got the cashing in on the scripts starting.
All - each and every one - cheapening B5.
Yes, cheapening.
It is not necessary to buy the books, watch the crappy teevee movies
or anything else to know they are out there and that what was once
held special has been, in no uncertain terms, degraded.
>So, it is impossible for JMS to write anything good in the B5 universe
>ever again?
Evidence would seem to indicate that is the case. I would rather he
didn't try.
> No. It's just impossible for him to get the kind of
>backing that he had for the five years of Babylon 5. He *should* be a
>known quantity. Warner Brothers, based upon the DVD sales, *should* be
>able to back a modrately budgeted B5 feature film, not put stupid
>initial conditions on it, and trust JMS to write a good script. But
>noooooo. So, we get nothing.
It is for the best since there have to be questions raised about the
quality of the result.
>The money people in Hollywood (especially at Warner Brothers) are
>idiots with their heads shoved firmly up their own asses. Hell, I bet
>they can see their own tonsils from the inside looking up. JMS *could*
>produce great TV and movies in the B5 universe, if only the people at
>Warner Brothers would get a clue. But, that's NEVER going to happen.
Perhaps they know more than you're giving them credit for? It *is*
their money, after all. If JMS is so sure it'll be a hit, he's quite
capable of putting finance together and taking on the risk, I am sure.
>> Rest in Peace, Babylon 5. You were *great* while you lasted.
>
>Undoubtedly, it will rest in peace. I *wish* Warner Brothers would get
>behind the B5 universe and support a feature film without interference
>(e.g. only "movie actors" edict), but that'll never happen. As it is
>now, I can't see anything new in the Babylon 5 universe coming out in
>ANY medium (including written), and we're all much the poorer for it.
>But, you go ahead and be happy about it.....
I shall indeed be happy about it. Delirious, even, if it means there
are no more attempts at diluting and degrading the special place that
B5 has in my heart and in my memories.
Paul.
--
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